Soft pedal shiftless action for grand pianos



March 29, 1960 J. MAGAR 2,930,273

SOFT PEDAL SHIFTLESS ACTION FOR GRAND PIANOS Original Filed July 23, 1954 ET I].

I 1 r 44 6 INVENTOR. John Maser "T '7 x .l J E TTORNE United tates Patent SOFT PEDAL SHIFTLESS ACTION FOR GRAND PIANOS.

John Magar, Bronx, N.Y.

Continuation of application Serial No. 445,439, July 23, 1954. This application November 15, 1954, Serial No. 468,631

11 Claims. ((11. 84255) This invention relates to improvements in pianos and the construction thereof.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved piano construction, particularly of the grand piano type, in which it will be unnecessary for the piano action to be shifted sidewise when the soft pedal is actuated or depressed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved grand piano construction, in which the soft pedal lever, grand action spring, and touch regulating screws, are eliminated, thus simplifying substantially the construction, and avoiding the need for servicing such eliminated parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved grand piano construction, in which, by elimination of various major parts, the longitudinal sidewise shifting of the piano keyboard is eliminated, since the piano action does not have to shift back and forth from left to right and vice'versa, when using the soft pedal.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a A novel and improved grand piano construction, in which there is a soft pedal rod which is journaled in bearings carried on upper portions of the piano plate, with a plurality of damping or muting fingers or levers extend ing radially outwardly from the soft pedal rod at selected intervals therealong, with sound damping or muting heads carried on the outer ends of the levers, and arranged to be brought, on turning of the soft pedal rod to depressed position, corresponding to depressed soft pedal of the piano, into muting or damping engagement with selected individual or plural strings of each string group of the piano which is to be muted, the sound damping or muting heads moving from a position which is normally, when in retracted position, above the strings.

Still a further object of the inventionis to provide a novel and improved grand piano construction in which, regardless of how much the hammer felt is cut or indented, the actuation of the new soft pedal shaft will always result in the same softening of the sound, because the action of the piano does not shift sidewise.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved grand piano construction in which there are a number of muting or damping heads provided with felt wedges for actual string engagement, such damping heads being mounted for pivotal extension into the spaces between adjacent string groups, so that as the damping head is depressed, it damps the strings of such string groups which are immediately adjacent to the space therebetween, and hence softens the sound by muting the strings which it thus contacts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved tone softening means for a grand piano action in which, with simplified elements, actuated by the usual soft pedal by the foot, any desired degree of tone softness may be achieved, either by muting or damping selected individual strings of each treble string group, or of additional strings of each group, by addition of damp- 2 ing or muting heads which are normally disposed above the strings, and move downwardly when the soft pedal is depressed with the foot, by suitable intervening linkages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved tone softening means for a grand piano action, in which individual string muting or damping heads are provided, for extension into the spaces between adjacent strings of any string group, so as to contact and hence damp two strings. at a time in each such string group with one damping head, there being thus one damping head for each string group, if desired, and the individual damping heads being consequently of very little thickness.

A further object of the invention is to provide a string muting or damping head and arm assembly, in which the head is turnable about its axis, and adjustable in extension or retraction, so as to be adaptable to all sizing conditions to be encountered in the piano.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved grand piano construction, which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, which may be applied to many existing grand piano constructions for its intended purposes, and results in lessening the cost of both initial maintenance, and the continuation thereof, and of initial installation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a. novel and improved grand piano construction related particularly to providing a softer tone on depressing the soft pedal, which, while eliminating many major parts heretofore used, also avoids the heretofore needed shifting of the entire piano keyboard and action, sidewisc, so that there is no essential change in the outward appearance of the piano, but only simplification of the tone softening means actuated by the customary foot soft pedal.

This application is a continuation of my copcnding patent application, Serial Number 445,430, filed July 23, 1954, for Grand Piano With Soft Pedal Shiftless Action, to which reference may be made for many constructional elements shown therein, and incorporated herein by reference thereto, to avoid undue enlargement of the drawings herein.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional elevatlonal view taken substantially on plane 11 of Figure 7, showing a portion of a grand piano action according to the in vention, with the muting heads in retracted or upraised position.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view taken on the same viewing plane as Figure 1, and showing the muting heads in downwardly extended or muting engagement with the strings, and also indicating in broken lines, the adjustability of the degree of insertion of the outer end of the muting head supporting lever in the muting head body.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view taken substantially on viewing plane 3-3 of Figure 7, and showing the muting elements in full lines in lower .muting positions, in engagement with the strings, and

indicating in broken lines, their upwardly retractable positions, this view showing one form of muting and damping heads.

Figure 4 is fragmentary top plan view of the muting heads and their respective'supporting arms as seen in Figure 3, in relation to the strings.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view taken on a viewing plane similar to that of Figure 3,

but showing another modified form of the invention,

with muting heads extending inside in between adjacent strings of each string group, the view showing the muting heads in extended lower position, for muting, and indicating in broken lines for the shaft end only, for clarity of illustration, the upraised positions, the upraised positions forthe muting heads being omitted for clarity only, and corresponding to the upraised positions therefor shown in Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of the construction and arrangement shown in Figure 5, showing the muting heads in engagement with the strings, including angularly inclined strings.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of a portion of a piano action and frame, showing my novel muting heads and actuating shaft in relation to strings of the piano, only some of which are shown for clarity of illustration, other parts of the piano being also omitted for clarity only. Such a piano is shown in greater detail in my copending patent application referred to hereinabove,

By use of the present construction, while continuing to use the customary soft pedal for the foot, there is no need for the customary soft pedal lever, grand action spring, and the touch regulating screws, so that the cost of the piano is greatly reduced, and maintenance simplitied and made less expensive. In order to understand clearly the nature of the invention, and the best means for carrying it out, reference may now be had to the drawings, in which like numerals denote similar parts throughout the several views.

As shown, there is a grand piano generally indicated at 10, which is only shown in fragment in this application, and has been shown in somewhat more detail in Figure 1 of my said copending application, to which reference may be had for further details of construction. Here are shown the plate walls or rails such as at 17 and 26, which extend from left to right as seen in Figure 7, and are interconnected by cross rails or plate walls such as 16, secured thereto in any suitable manner to make a rigid frame or plate assembly to support the strings and other parts. As seen best in Figures 4, 6 and 7, there may be a large number of string groups such as groups 36, 31, 32, and 33, etc., each containing several strings, such as three strings for a single tone,

. string group. Similarly, some of the strings, particularly,

the longer strings may be angularly inclined to fit inside the piano, as at 34.

The playing of the piano in the usual manner by depressing individual keys, as is well known, causes the hammers, not shown, to strike the individual string group for that note, and it is also by use of dampers, not shown, but shown at 51 in Figure l of my copending patent application mentioned above, that the normal tone of the piano is achieved, these being elevated from the strings in accordance with the desires of the player by appropriate pedal 'depression not involved directly herein.

1 provide a soft pedal shaft 3i}, which extends along the upper surface of the plate, as along the plate rail 16, for example, and is substantially as long as the width -of the plate so that it extends over all the piano strings.

A number of bearings 40 have bearing housings &2 defining openings through which the shaft 36 extends, and suitable base flanges 44 extend outwardly from the hearing housings 42 for being secured by means of screws 46 to the underlying portions of the plate, such as to the plate rails 17, =26 and the like. In order to avoid rattling or noise, it is preferable to line the bearings with felt liners 41 which extend around the interior of the bearings.

A number of soft pedal damper or muting heads 53 have openings or bores 58 formed therethrough to receive the outer ends or finger tips 59 of the damper or muting head supporting levers or fingers 56, the fingers 50 extending at their inner or proximal ends into radial openings or sockets 48 formed in the shaft 30 at intervals therealong. Thus, when the bent end .36 of the shaft 30 is depressed by tension on the pull rod or wire 38 resulting from depressing the soft pedal of the piano, through a suitable linkage or trapwork, then :all the fingers 50 are turned with shaft 3% in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure l, downwardly to the depressed or string engaging position shown in Figure 2, and in full lines in Figures 3 and 5, the upraised positions being shown in Figures 3 and 5 in broken lines, except that in Figure 5 the upraised positions of the muting heads is not shown for clarity only. Each of the damper or muting heads 53 has a set screw 54 threaded therethrough, so as to retain the finger tip 59 of the fingers 50 firmly engaged therein, yet permit adjustment thereof when needed, such as to vary the degree of insertion of the tip 59 in the head, as at 59a in Figure 2, as to clear some intervening obstacle, damper head or other part of the piano, and also to permit turning the muting head 53 about the axis of the finger tip 59, as seen at 53a in Figures 4 and 6, to match or mate with angularly disposed strings such as group 34, while the fingers 50 all radiate from the shaft 30 in mutual parallelism. It is noted that the finger tips 59 of the fingers 59 enter the top surfaces of the muting heads 53, for this purpose.

Each of the damper heads 53 is formed of wood or other suitable material, and is provided with a downwardly extending damper wedge 6t? secured thereto in any suitable manner, as adhesively or mechanically, or otherwise, the damper wedges so being formed with downwardly convergent sides 61 and as, so that, as seen in Figures 1 to 4, as they are depressed from their upper positions shown in Figure 1 to their muting positions shown in Figures 2 and 3, each muting wedge, which is formed of harnmer felt such as is used for making piano hammers, will extend into the space 7ft between each pair of adjacent string groups such as 31 and 32, 32 and 33, etc., as seen in Figure 3, so that each string group has two of its strings contacted by'the muting head felt and damped.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, it is seen that here is a modified form of the invention, in that, instead of using a damping head to damp one string of one string group and one string of the neighboring string group, the form of Figure 5 uses one damping head to extend between two strings of a single string group, and thus damp such two strings of that group only, there being one such damping head for each string group. Here in Figures 5 and 6, it is seen that the damper or muting heads 53!) are similar to those of Figure 3 to the extent that they have the muting head body 53c, but are some what thinner in end view, although in side view as seen in Figures 1 and 2, they have substantially the sarne contour as shown therein from the side elevation. In the form of Figures 5 and 6, the muting heads 53b are provided with depending damping or muting felt wedges 60:: whose convergent sides 61a and 63a are much closer together since they must enter the spaces between the strings such as b and c of a single string group such as group 31 in Figure 5, and contact the two strings b and c to mute or damp them.

It is thus clear that the depression of the soft pedal of the piano, which, through a suitable trapwork causes the depression of the pull rod 38 and hence of the shaft arm 36 and thus the clockwise turning of the shaft 3%, and depression of the soft pedal dampers or muting heads 53, causes only such contacted strings to be damped or muted, normally such damping being applied to the strings in each string group as desired for the muting or softening efiect to be achieved.

To clear over the regular dampers 51 of the piano or to avoid interference with them, the levers 50 may be bent as needed, or adjusted as shown in broken lines in Figure 2 by loosening the set screw 54. A suitable trapwork may be provided to link the regular soft pedal of the piano with the pull rod 38, so that depressing the soft pedal depresses the muting heads 53 all simultaneously, the pull rod 38 being vertically inserted through an opening formed in the adjacent or subjacent piano sounding board for connection with the trapwork, the upper end of the rod 38 being inserted through an opening in the end of rod 36. A suitable spring is provided at any part of the linkage, or in the trapwork or soft pedal linkage, to maintain the parts in the normally retracted position shown in Figure 1.

Although I have described my invention in specific terms, it will be understood that various changes may be made in size, shape, materials and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. It will also be understood that by arranging the thin wedges shown in Figure 5 to the right side of strings c of each string group, according to a modified form of the invention, then the wedge will bear against only one string of each string group, and mute only one string.

I claim:

1. In a grand piano having a plurality of string groups, each string group having a plurality of strings forming the same, a sound damping head individual to each string group mounted on a rotating pedal shaft and adjacent a string group constructed and arranged for movement from retracted to extended positions, an elongated substantially wedge shaped sound damping tongue carried by and movable with said sound damping head, and having an extended position in side sound damping contact with at least one string of a string group, for damping the sound thereof, andinto retracted position out of contact therewith, and lever and linkage means connecting said pedal shaft with the soft pedal of the piano, so that depression of the soft pedal moves said sound damping tongue into damping side engagement with said selected strings, and released of said soft pedal for return to initial position restores said sound damping tongue to retracted undamping position.

2. The construction according to claim 1, wherein said sound damping tongue is made of soft yielding material.

3. The construction according to claim 1, wherein said sound damping tongue is made of soft felt-like material.

4. The construction according to claim 1, wherein said sound damping tongue is made in the form of a truncated wedge with convergent sides which sides are constructed and arranged to bear against the string to be damped only sidewise, for damping the same.

5. The construction according to claim 1, wherein said sound damping tongue is made in the form of a wedge with at least two convergent sides, constructed and arranged to extend into the interspace between and substantially beyond adjacent string groups, so as to have its two convergent sides bear sidewise against the outermost string of each string group bordering upon said inter. space, so that the sound of each of said outermost strings is clamped or muted as desired.

6. The construction according to claim 1, wherein said sound damping tongue is in the form of a wedge with at least two convergent sides, and constructed and arranged to extend into the space between two strings of a single string group and well past said strings, so as to bear sidewise only against said two strings, and to damp or mute their sound.

7. The construction according to claim 1, whereinsaid sound damping tongue is in the form of a thin wedge with at least two convergent sides merging into a bottom edge, said wedge having a thickness between said convergent sides which is not too great to block entry thereof between and substantially past two strings of a string group, so as to bear sidewise only against said two strings, and damp their tone.

8. The construction according to claim 7, wherein the angle between the sides of said wedge is less than about ten degrees.

9. In a grand piano having a plurality of string groups at least some of said string groups having a plurality of strings forming the same, shaft means, journal means engaging said shaft means and supported on relatively stationary portions of said piano, whereby said shaft means is turnable about its axis, actuating arm means at one end of said shaft means, for being moved from one angular position to another to turn said shaft about its axis, radial arm means carried by said shaft means and extending therefrom, for turning movement therewith, damper head means carried on a distal portion of said radial arm means for movement therewith, elongated substantially wedge shaped damper tongue means carried by said damper head means and movable therewith, said damper tongue means having a retracted position out of contact with any strings, and an extended position at which it is in side contact solely with at least one string of said piano, for damping the tone thereof.

10. The construction according to claim 9, in which said damper head means comprises a damper head body with an opening formed therein, the outer end of said radial arm means being directed to enter said opening, and fastening means for holding said arm means end therein, said opening being formed in the upper surface of said damper head body.

11. The construction according to claim 10, in which said outer end of said radial arm means is bent so that when said damper tongue is in damping position, said outer end of said arm means is vertical, whereby said damper tongue is adjustable angularly about a vertical axis to engage sidewise with angularly inclined string groups as well as regularly oriented strings, and whereby said penetration of said outer arm means end is adjustable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,275 Cumston Aug. 3, 1839 298,040 Swenson May 6, 1884 446,097 Granger Feb. 10, 1891 466,493 Felldin Ian. 5, 1892 552,141 Polk Dec. 31, 1895 1,483,104 McIlwrath Feb. 12, 1924 1,729,198 Williams et al Sept. 24, 1929 1,821,978 Loar Sept. 8. 1931 

